Cavaliers make several moves at the deadline to save chances to realize high expectations

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Cavs move on from failed experiment (1:05)

Cleveland started the season with a new roster featuring Isaiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose. Now all three are gone as the team moves on from the trade deadline and looks to the future. (1:05)

CLEVELAND -- After a nightmarish stretch of basketball since Christmas Day -- a 20-game slump in which the Cleveland Cavaliers went just 7-13 while repeatedly getting blown out in embarrassing fashion on national television -- the Cleveland front office realized how broken its team was and went for broke at the trade deadline.

A dizzying set of trades that started at just past noon on Thursday completely revamped Cleveland's roster, turning the oldest collection of talent in the league into a younger, more versatile group. It is, though, a group with only 29 games remaining in the regular season to coalesce before the playoffs begin.

All told, the shipping and receiving receipts look like this:

Cavaliers deadline moves

Incoming

Outgoing

PG Jordan Clarkson

PG Isaiah Thomas

C Larry Nance, Jr.

PF Jae Crowder

PG George Hill

SG Dwyane Wade

SG Rodney Hood

PG Derrick Rose

C Channing Frye

SG Iman Shumpert

For simplicity's sake, let's group the guys the Cavs said goodbye to in pairs.

Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder came in during the Kyrie Irving trade in August, and the fit was never right. Crowder bounced between the starting lineup and the bench and struggled to find a comfort factor, as the Cavs are a rare team whose starters run a different offense than their second unit does. Thomas was out with a hip injury until early January and played only 15 games before Cleveland had to move on. He struggled to mesh on the court and off of it in a locker room full of strong personalities.

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers waved goodbye to Isaiah Thomas at the trade deadline. David Richard/USA TODAY

Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose -- a former Finals MVP and former regular-season MVP, respectively -- came in on minimum deals, both sacrificing more lucrative opportunities to try to recapture the magic they once wielded. But they couldn't make it work. Wade showed flashes of his previous life as "The Flash" -- particularly when Cleveland reeled off 18 wins in 19 games November through December -- but his style of play did not mesh with the accelerated pace the Cleveland coaching staff wanted to see. Rose was still haunted by injuries, and after nearly walking away from the game completely in November, he never found his footing in Cleveland again.

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Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert both played significant roles in Cleveland's splendid run to the championship in 2016 but had mostly fallen out of the rotation this season. They both were viewed as assets with something left to give, and they helped attract players the Cavaliers hope will help them immediately in the swaps that sent them out.

As for what's coming in:

George Hill is a long guard with plenty of playoff experience who can hit the 3-ball and will step into the void left by Thomas in the starting lineup.

Jordan Clarkson is a scoring option who can create his own shot and, at age 25, will give an infusion of youth to the Cleveland bench unit, a group that will also see more run from rookie SF Cedi Osman as the season wraps up.

Hood is a wing who can stretch the floor; Nance is a bouncy big man who can protect the rim and is devastating when running the floor. Not to mention, Nance is a legacy player, as his father, Larry Nance Sr., had his No. 22 retired by the Cavaliers after getting traded from the Phoenix Suns in February 1988 and spending the last 6½ years of his career in Cleveland.

Cavaliers new depth chart

Starters

2nd unit/Rotation

3rd string/bench

Two-way contract

PG George Hill*

PG Jordan Clarkson*

PG Jose Calderon

PG London Perrantes

SG JR Smith

SG Rodney Hood*

SG John Holland

SF LeBron James

SF Kyle Korver

SF Cedi Osman

PF Kevin Love+

PF Jeff Green

C Tristan Thompson

C Larry Nance, Jr.*

C Ante Zizic

*=New acquisition +=Injured

All of this has to be viewed through the spectrum of how it will affect LeBron James' free-agency decision this summer.

James has often called for the Cavaliers to add two-way players to compete with the likes of the Golden State Warriors. These deals addressed that. It also should fix some chemistry issues that existed ever since the start of training camp -- issues that included the role of James' good friend, Wade. Sending Wade back to Miami was a tricky move.

But the Cavs' decision-makers handled it as well as can be expected, keeping James in the loop during the process, a team source told ESPN.

From here, all there is left to do is play -- and do so with a roster that is theoretically better equipped to defend, better equipped to run the floor and better prepared to fall into a pecking order more readily.

This is James' team. He can help lead all of those new players to a level of success they have never experienced before -- if they buy in and follow his lead. And if James buys back in with them, the Cavs' chaotic season could actually end up with a blissful ending.